New research indicates the increasingly popular recreational
sport of mountain biking may be just as dangerous as other sports like
football, hockey, skiing and rugby. Canadian researchers reviewed 107 patients
seen at a spinal referral center during a 13-year period who were injured while
mountain biking. The majority of those injured were male with the average age
of 33. Of those injured, almost two-thirds required surgery and 40 percent
sustained spinal cord injuries. Worse yet, of those 40 percent who had spinal
cord injury, almost half resulted in complete paralysis. Moreover, at discharge
2 patients remained on a ventilator. Surprisingly, the study also found that
helmets didn’t appear to help in reducing spinal injures, although, they
protected the head. Thus, while helmets are important in protecting the head
and brain, they offer little protection to the cervical spine when riders go
over the handle bars or fall from heights and land on their heads. Researchers
advise mountain bikers and for that matter all bikers, to use extreme caution
when thinking about or performing any tricks or jumps. They also advised to
ride with others and to stay together just incase someone becomes injured.

Author: ChiroPlanet.comSource: The American Journal of Sports Medicine. May 20, 2010.